CTumilson wrote:The pre-run mode leads me to my next question. If I disregard the PC, and just look at the GC as a standalone piece of equipment, once I turn it on and it goes through all it's checks, the not ready light turns on. Even when all the temperatures reach their set points, and the detectors are on, the system will not run, instead stating it is still in pre-run. If I press start the 'not ready' light just flashes. Bearing in mind I've never used one of these GCs, so the answer might be simple, is there something I need to do to get out of this pre-run mode?

I will try to remember to look at precisely how I have it set up this evening to answer your first question (deleted for purposes of brevity here). As for the "not ready"- does the instrument have one detector, or two?

If you have a second detector and it's getting warmed by virtue of the oven, but it is set for an entirely different temperature, it is possible for the instrument to be 'not ready' by virtue of that being out of whack. Just something to check.

CTumilson wrote:The pre-run mode leads me to my next question. If I disregard the PC, and just look at the GC as a standalone piece of equipment, once I turn it on and it goes through all it's checks, the not ready light turns on. Even when all the temperatures reach their set points, and the detectors are on, the system will not run, instead stating it is still in pre-run. If I press start the 'not ready' light just flashes. Bearing in mind I've never used one of these GCs, so the answer might be simple, is there something I need to do to get out of this pre-run mode?

Just another thing to check... You did not mention your gases, the GC should not be ready until the gasses are pressurized; I have noticed that if I just want to check a 5890 without gasses pressurized, I "usually" can not get the "ready" green light.

CTumilson wrote:OSP, I might try your suggestion next. Can I ask what pins the 19242-60500 cable uses on both the 60030 and the DB-25 connector? I doubt this would be much different from connecting a DB-25 to DB-9 via the 19257-60015 & 19257-60020 boards, but given this is currently not working it might be worth a try. It does, however, sometimes register that the GC is in pre-run mode, before losing the connection, but I've no idea why.

OK- the 19242-60500 cable plugs into the "Instrument Network Out" socket on the top right side of the instrument, under the top cover on the extreme right of the top of the 5890. It terminates with a 2 x 6 connector, something like this: Top, left to right, facing the connector: red, empty, green, brown, blue, empty. Bottom row entirely empty.

The cable in turn terminates in a DB-25; there are only four pins. The male pins, facing the connector, from left to right, are 1 (brown), 2 (blue), 3 (red), and 7 (green). I put in a connector to which I could solder wires, and soldered in three: 2, 3, and 7. Those three wires (bell wire or something like that from Home Depot) gets soldered into a female DB-9 connector, as per my previous post:

Then that gets plugged into a DB-9 to USB connector, and magic happens and numbers come pouring out of the box once all the right settings are set rightly in Unichrom. This takes between 30 seconds and 5 minutes of cussing, in my experience.

My camera's battery is dead or I'd post pics. If this isn't clear or you want elaboration, pictures it is.

ChromaCake wrote:Just another thing to check... You did not mention your gases, the GC should not be ready until the gasses are pressurized; I have noticed that if I just want to check a 5890 without gasses pressurized, I "usually" can not get the "ready" green light.

I should add, I've connected up the gases and can get pressure in the cool on column inlet. I've no pressure in the SSL, but this is not in use and there is nothing attached to this from the oven side. The heater for this element is also turned off. The system is still not ready, so does this outlet still need to be plugged in order for the system to be ready?

OK- the 19242-60500 cable plugs into the "Instrument Network Out" socket on the top right side of the instrument, under the top cover on the extreme right of the top of the 5890. It terminates with a 2 x 6 connector, something like this:

Can anyone let me know how they connect the 19242-60030 board to their computer, either via a DB-25 or DB-9 connector? Specifically which pins on the J13 header connect to which pins on the DB connector?

I've tried this using the information on the UniChrom website, but the information on what the J13 header pins do seems to conflict on pages 5 & 6, so if anyone has a working solution that would be fantastic.